scapel

In the old cruise critic there used to be a way to go to your profile and tell the system to open your roll call to the most recent post. Now I find that it opens to the oldest post first and I have to click on the double arrow to go to the last page and then hold the Ctrl-end to get to the most recent post.

So now with the new cruise critic it requires two extra steps to get to the most recent post. Do you think that is why the roll call I am following has so few post.

Surely there is someone that has enough smarts to fix this. I would fire the person that re-did the old cruise critic and made it more difficult than the old cruise critic to follow a thread. It must have been someone that did not follow any roll call that fixed it.

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The duck boat did not have any foam in it.  It is not the foam that needs inspecting, it is the steel, that has an unfortunate tendency to corrode in sea water, and welds that have an unfortunate tendency to also corrode, or fail from fatigue, that need to be inspected.  These need to be inspected from both sides.  If you could make a structure that can hold as much weight as a cruise ship holds, simply out of foam, go for it, you'll make millions, but it just can't happen, as foam, at least any foam available today, does not possess the necessary structural strength to hold shape under repeated flexures caused by the sea.

 

And foam can let you down, it can and does break down with age.

 

And a rubber duck filled with foam doesn't hold anything else.  Where do the passengers go?  Even a rubber duck completely filled with foam will sink when enough weight is put on it's back.  A life jacket, which is essentially a block of foam, is only rated for a certain number of pounds of flotation, around 18-20 lbs.  This amount of flotation, coupled with the body's natural flotation, will keep your head out of water.  However, if I tie 180 lbs of steel to the life jacket, it will go down like a rock.  Leave a small air space in your rubber duck, and if you puncture it and let it fill with water, there is no guarantee it will stay afloat, it depends on how much water and how much foam is there within the duck to determine whether it stays afloat or not.

 

Most pleasure boats are made with foam filled flotation chambers, yet how many of these sink every year?  Thousands.  Why?  Because they fill with water (that space inside the boat that makes it useful and not just a block of floating foam), and the water outweighs the flotation of the foam.

 

What you are proposing would be a surfboard (a foam plank, or block) with all the equipment (engines, propulsion, etc) on top, and all the accommodation on top.  This would raise the center of gravity, to the point where the ship would roll over (how easy is it to fall over on a surfboard?).  Otherwise, if you have space in the hull (even with foam all around it), anything that starts to fill that space with water (broken sea water pipe, ship rolls on side and hull windows break allowing water in, or rolls to the point where the non-watertight doors on the promenade deck start letting water in and you get downflooding, will sink a ship when the water weighs more than the flotation.

Water can be the most powerful force in the world and it can sink anything and it can turn anything over and over.

On another note regarding so called life boat drills-- I always recommend to cruisers and crew to be sure your life vest is tried on and adjusted properly when you arrive to your cabin. An emergency is no time to try to get into a life vest for the first time in your life. For multiple people in a cabin use post notes to identify your own life vest. At the so called lifeboat drills, I never hear any statements to the effect to go to your cabin and put your life vest on and adjust it to fit. I have been on a cruise ship that hit another ship. Fortunately it was only a minor incident but the wife and I were ready.

How do I configure my profile so that the most recent post show up first all the time in a thread.

More re Windows.

 

At lunch time there is a "toasted" sandwich station with a "sandwich of the day" but you can have choose your own fillings as well.

 

There is also usually a "carving" station for dinner (can't recall if it's also there at lunch time).

 

 

 

One last remark re Windows, I think I mentioned this already but this is also were it is possible to get your own hot drink 24/7. And where you can also find slices of lemon for your G&T!

 

 

 

 

Alsun,

Yes there usually is a carving station at lunch in windows. It is good to take a plate there and let them cut you some roast or ham and take that carving to the sandwich station to make the sandwich. The carved stuff is much better than what is at the sandwich station.

What a jewel you have been for all of us following your post. I know it took time out from your vacation to do this and I think it is very unselfish of you to have done this for all of us that have enjoyed your post. I think you have been a good promoter for Azamara and they indeed should do something special for you on your next Azamara cruise. Captain Carl should have invited you to the Best of the Best as a special guest. Of course rules may have prevented it.

You have been the best promoter of Azamara that I have ever seen. I have only been on three Azamara cruises but would love for you to have had breakfast in the forward viewing suite.

Your photos were excellent. They must have been taken with a very good camera.

I asked Capt Carl, and he said he likes it very much indeed! He is down to the last half bottle now!

He can buy more on Amazon.com.

Azamara have really taken on board all the comments when the drinks menu changed. This is very clear that other ‘inclusive’ cocktails can be ordered so long as they can be made with the included spirits, whereas the initial version was not at all clear.

 

 

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Denise,

Azamara needs to do a little something extra for Alsun for taking the time and effort in posting this active information and keeping us all interested in Azamara. Alsun is making me wish I was on Azamara right now.

We have noticed this with the Officers Hosted Dinner and also at Prime C and Aqualina.

 

But Windows works fine for us. We do actually prefer it over Discoveries as we found D. quite noisy. Also, W had the Sunset Verandah :-)

Windows- For lunch find where they are slicing meet or ham and get a few slices on a plate- Go to the sandwich place and have them make your sandwich with that meat rather than using the available meet at the sandwich station.

Alsun--Thank you very much for posting this information. For us that are not on this wonderful cruise it is very entertaining to read. If you get a chance to talk to Capt. Carl ask him about "Sweet & Spicy Tabasco". It was something new in Louisiana that I brought him a couple bottles this past January. Of course politeness dictates he would say he liked it, but I wonder if he finished it. Some foreigners (People not from Louisiana) don't like our spicy stuff. This product is not as hot as regular Tabasco.

On another note, something the Azamara does really well for a desert drink is to take 1 oz of Green Crème de Menthe with 1 oz of White Crème de Cacao mixed with one or two scoops of vanilla ice cream and a few pieces of cracked ice in a blender and serve in a rocks glass with a short straw. It is in the included drinks or used to be. I carry these little sheets of paper with this typed up to hand the waiter.

BTW- don't try to order an included beverage to be delivered to the stateroom. You will be charged. (Funny story there).--Get it at the bar and bring it to the stateroom.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR POSTING THOSE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES--and letting us share some of your adventures. I have been to the Fjords of Norway twice and have had 3 Azamara Cruises-- The combination of Norway and Azamara is WIN WIN. Capt Carl is an extra bonus.

The airline lost my luggage on one trip To the Fjords, and I got it back in Bergen. It is amazing what you can live without when necessary.

We will get close to your place next month when we meet our Blackpool friends for the Ring of Kerry in Ireland.

Dr.Joe

Really old post,

Just reminded me that Celebrity cannot go into Glacier Bay as only Carnival has been grandfathered into Glacier Bay. Princess and HAL are owned by Carnival so qualify. We had done Alaskan Cruises with Celebrity but chose HAL Statendam to be able to cruise Glacier Bay which was worthwhile. HAL Statendam was an excellent cruise ship.

Call Ricky and ask him whatever you need to. Leave a message if he doesn't answer. He gives a very good tour.

Mobile- +50 68 848 1499

This may be old information. To get to the heliport deck, get out on deck 4 on the port side and walk all the way forward and then up two decks to deck 6. If it is open you can get on it there. That is how I used to do it.

I don't recall making any kind of payment in advance. I wonder if someone is hijacking him and trying to get you to pay them. He didn't even require a deposit. I trust him if I know it is him.

I will be doing Panama Canal in May on the NCL Bliss and have also decided not to do any excursions in Puerto Chiapas (have the Thermal Spa pass so hoping for a quiet day there). But I do plan to get off and check out the 'huts' and wondered if you knew whether they had wi-fi there and also what type of food in the restaurant (just looking for something like chips/salsa, Margarita while using the wi-fi, if any). Thanks!

 

And Turtles06...saw this review and beautiful photos when you first posted and still refer to it often. Thanks so much for the information.

Just my thoughts, but I did the Mangrove Tour in Puerto Chiapas in 2014 and didn't find it very entertaining, so I guess your decision to not do any is probably a good one.

HAVANA CUBA--

PANAMA CANAL & PANAMA CITY

JAN 2018

Dr.Joe

Call him on his cell phone.

Ricky Ricardo White

+506 8848 1499

Ricky does a great tour. We used him twice --Once in 2014 for transportation from hotel in Alajuela to Caldera and the next day to do a day tour in Puntarenas. He is well organized . We saw the alligators being fed in the wild, many birds pointed out using key cards, a tram ride in the jungle, pressing sugar cane, information about certain flowers, stops to look at Macaws in the wild. He just knew where to look. Saw monkeys come down to his head to steal bananas. A beautiful view on the water for an included lunch.

This isn't a resurrected thread. It's been continually active for 11 years with new information added all the time and new questions answered. I post on here frequently to answer new questions and provide new information.

 

What is totally useless and disruptive to the flow of information on the thread is the type of posting the two of you do on multiple threads, replying to the original post, in this case made 11 years ago, as if it was just posted. Next time try reading the thread and looking at the dates of the posts before screwing up the thread with worthless and confusing garbage.

Not a nice thing to say

We just got back today from the Quest! I decided to wait to post any further thoughts once we were done with the cruise. All in all it was a very good cruise...and while there are things I liked about Azamara better than Silversea and vice versa...at the end of the day, we would be perfectly happy on either ship. We dont feel the need to only be on one cruise line, we like to spice things up. So we will definitely be back on Azamara.

 

I really dont like that you have to wait until you get on board to make specialty reservations. We went (about 230p)to the reservation desk at Windows Cafe right after lunch on day of embarkation . There was only really late times left. We got 845 at Aqualina one night and 9p last night at PRime C. We are early eaters...so this wasn’t ideal, but on the plus side, the canapés you get in Club Continent Suite are substantial, so we werent starving when we finally went to dinner. We ate one night main dining room (Discoveries), one night Aqualina, one night PRime C and one night room service. Everything was good to very good except for breakfast at Windows...I wasn’t a fan ....so I just ate my usual cereal and yogurt that I have at home, so it was fine. I would rate SS a little better in food dept...feel like food was seasoned better on SS than AZ. But still quite happy with everything.

 

Our butler was the best butler we have ever had....better than any on SS.

 

Internet speed wasn’t great ...about the same as SS....at least we had free time instead of having to pay!

 

We found people much more social, friendly and outgoing than SS. Maybe because it was mostly American as opposed to SS which is normally more European. Or maybe it was just the destination. There was a mixed range of ages which we appreciate as well....younger overall than SS.

 

We loved our suite...much better than the usual veranda suite we get on SS.

 

A lot more people out and about in the public areas. Eg..Living Room than Silversea.. Can be very quiet on board after dinner on SS.

 

Our tours were great...Azamara did a great job with them. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We loved having Mosaic cafe on board...a nice coffee bar is great...wish SS had that.

 

And btw... Cuba was great...very interesting experience. And there’s no one checking whether you have tours or not...you have to fill out an affidavit saying you will do a tour. But thats it. It is perfectly ok to wander on your own after a tour or just doing your own thing. We did 2 tours the first day and did our own thing yesterday. All Cuba and Azamara questions welcome!

Ben & Gary,

Thanks for a very nice summary. I can agree with everything you reported, but I must say the sit down dinner with table service on the Silver Cloud one night was kind of a treat.

I think I like the complimentary wines on Azamara better than Silversea. We have only been on the Silver Whisper, Silver Shadow and Silver Cloud.

We have taken to Azamara mostly because of the staff. The CDs, Hotel Directors, Concierges and ships officers just seemed to make us feel more at home. Not quite as formal an atmosphere as on Silversea.

Yes I think Azamara is Celebrity's answer to Silversea and a good answer it is.

In Oct 2016 we were able to make all our specialty reservations right after we checked in and before we actually went aboard. We had the times and dates ready and had them done before we went aboard. I would make them now if I could. Everyone is treated on a first come first serve basis even if you have one of the owner's suites.

We sail January 2018 to Cuba if all goes well.

Thanks again for your report.

Can anyone tell me the Azamara Emergency Telephone number to leave at home in case of Emergencies or is there a ship number that someone can reach me aboard in an emergency. Don't want to be bothered otherwise.

For my tree previous cruises , the time spend was limited, my evaluation is approximately 1 hour max per day. That's why we booked an inside cabin because the price difference couldn't justify a balcony.

 

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If you can take two cruises inside for the price of one outside or close, that is the way to go. The pool side areas on cruise ships are beautiful and only go to the cabin to sleep, bathe and change.

Another thing I’ll say about a balcony....on the downside of them, you don’t have any privacy, everything you say or your neighbors say, is heard.

Right, but on a stern balcony, the sound tends to go aft.

Certainly in the UK it is often the case that you will get a better deal booking through a TA rather than direct. You should certainly not discount using a TA. No harm in getting a quote from a TA and then comparing it to the price quoted by the cruise line.

A couple of points to note. Firstly that there are many different types of cabin grade. A balcony cabin at the front of the ship, underneath a public area will be considerably cheaper than a similar cabin mid-ships with cabins above and below. When looking at prices make sure you are comparing like for like. Secondly, pricing is extremely fluid. The price you see today may not be available tomorrow. If you see a price you are happy with, book it, and don't look back!

I have been using the same travel agent for 20 years because she is my go to person for whatever I need. She has an inside tract to contact the cruise line to answer questions for me. A good TA is the best way to go. They should be responsive immediately to your questions. My TA responds by e-mail within 24 hours.

I think the prices are no different. If I find a quoted price cheaper than the one I have I ask why and she explains the difference. Sometimes some give refunds after the cruise depending on the cruise line.

We do like the Veranda. Have had some massive ones like the Penthouse suite (way too big) on the Millennium class ships and the forward viewing one on the Azamara ships (much smaller) for viewing and approaching ports while eating breakfast.

Fresh air and listening to the water is peaceful and relaxing.

The foreign conversion fee is from your credit card. The dynamic currency conversion is something done by the merchant at point of sale. The merchant is supposed to ask but a few unscrupulous merchants do it without asking. What often happens is that the consumer gets the option but does not understand what it means. They see USD or the local currency and pick USD because it is familiar and psychologically they think that is the better option when in actuality charging in the local currency is the best option. Dynamic Currency conversion allows the merchant, merchants bank or ATM to charge a markup on the exchange rate used and that markup can be quite high.

 

Often the consumer gets a double whammy. If they don't have a card with no foreign transaction fees they will get charged that 3% fee and an 18% currency conversion markup for charging in USD!

I always have the charge in local currency so I can see the conversion rate when I get the bill.

If you are talking about picking the currency on the credit card machine, as I mentioned before, the exchange rates on those are HORRIBLE. More than the foreign transaction fee.

 

I have seen nearly 10% difference in charging in dollars and letting the credit card company do the exchange, versus the vendor doing the conversion.

 

Just get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees.

My thoughts are that there are two charges that can be charged.

A currency conversion charge and

A foreign transaction fee

I would have a card that does not make either charge.